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Archive for February 8th, 2011

The Real Clear Politics polling aggregate of 8 major polling firms shows, as I have been regularly promoting that the combined Palin/Huckabee support amongst GOP voters is up to more than double that for Romney who is the next highest choice.

The RCP average for Palin/Huckabee is 35.3% and for Romney it is 18.8%. This result is perfectly in line with the 33%-40% that the Palin/Huckabee support level has been running at for months as set out in the previous analysis below.

PPP has just done a poll of South Dakota which at 40% Palin/Huck to 17%% Romney (If Thune Doesn’t run), although just one state, perfectly mirrors the national averages and is in line with most other PPP state polls.

The message couldn’t be clearer-the grass roots GOP voters want a true conservative and presuming Huckabee does not run then that choice is Palin-no matter how hard the MSM/Beltway elite/False Friends Liberals try and dump one of their own on the rank and file.

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Politicon Polling polled 573 likely Republican voters as to their preferences for Republican candidate for president 2012.

Palin and Romney were in joint first place at 18% each but the significant factor-as it has been in each of recent polls is that the combined Palin/Huckabee at 33% of the vote is 15% ahead of Romney. Clearly if Huckabee does not run it must be assumed (which has been confirmed by polling analysis) that the majority of his support would go to Palin should she run.This would give her an overwhelming victory.

The facts of the matter are that the Palin/Huckabee support is almost equal to the total support of all 9 other candidates bar Romney combined !

Recent polls of GOP supporters showed a preference in the 36%-40% for the combined Palin/Huckabee vote so this latest is another which again,confirms the trend. The 13% lead the President Obama has over Palin in this poll amongst all voters is meaningless as all that matters initially is winning the GOP nomination. At one point Ronald reagan was 25% behind President Carter so the Obama/Palin matchup should be disregarded.

Here is the poll result

Of the following Republican
Presidential Candidates, who are
you going to vote for in the
Republican Presidential Primaries,
if they run?

I think most of us have a good idea the sort of policies Sarah would implement as President, least in a broad sense. We know creating jobs and energy independence would take priority, as would getting the federal government out of our lives, and returning power to the states, where it belongs. Sarah will spend a lot of time mending fences, restoring relationships with allies around the world, who have been angered, and disrespected, by the Obama regime.

As we get closer to 2012 and election season, we’ll be discussing more what Sarah will likely do once in office. What we’d like for her to do, as well. For now though, I though it would be fun to put together a Dream Team. Who would be the very best of people to join Sarah as she restores America, after four years of the Obamanation.

This list is by no means a complete one of all of the agencies and positions she’ll need to fill. Just some key ones. We encourage readers to offer up their opinions, suggestions, and so on. Help us pick out our Dream Team for Sarah!

Looking forward to a vigorous debate!

OK:

* President: Sarah Palin

[duh!]

* Vice President: Rick Perry

To me, this is a no brainer. One of the big things a President must have is successful Executive experience. It’s why we generally elect Governors to the presidency. Since the Vice President must be able to take over for the President should something happen, why shouldn’t he or she be a successful Chief Executive as well?

There’s more to it than that though. Rick Perry and Sarah Palin share the same ideals of Liberty and Freedom. Both are federalists, strong believers in states rights over the federal government. Rick Perry, like Sarah, is a superstar when it comes to solid performance as a Chief Executive. Texas has been the only state consistently creating jobs during the crisis we are suffering under. Perry, like Sarah, knows what it takes to make a state, and a nation, business friendly.

Texas also instituted massive law suit reforms that have not only made us more business friendly, but have helped the health care industry as well. Doctors are coming to Texas from other states and health care in Texas is some of the very best in the nation. Perry, unlike a certain Governor who, like Obama, has a socialist health care program named after him, understands free market principles, not government take over, is the way to reform.

It also doesn’t hurt that Sarah and Rick are friends. Many times a presidential ticket is a “marriage of convenience” some sort of contrived nonsense to “unite the party.” Oddly enough, this sort of thing is unique to the Republican Party, ESPECIALLY when a strong Conservative is at the top of the ticket.

The GOP elites threaten to take their toys and go home if they don’t get their way. I remember the establishment forcing George H.W. Bush on Ronald Reagan to “unite the party” and STILL running John Anderson as a third party guy anyway! RINOs are never satisfied unless it’s an all RINO ticket. Then many still vote for the other side.

Look what happened with the Reagan presidency. Reagan and Bush were never in love with one another in the first place, and when Bush was elected after Reagan, he killed all of the momentum of the Reagan Revolution. Instead we got a “thousand points of light” and “compassionate conservatism” which is nothing more than “democrat light.”

With Rick Perry, once Sarah finishes her eight years, and he is elected to the presidency, we won’t have to worry about the Palin Revolution. It will be in good hands.

Also, I have no doubt that Sarah could give Rick a portfolio of his own, and be confident he would carry out her plans to the letter, and help her accomplish what must be done. Like Sarah, he’s a true leader.

Wild Card Choice: Ret. Lt Colonel and Congressman Allen West

This would be the “make every liberal in America’s head explode” choice. Though West has no Executive experience as a Governor, you don’t get to his rank as a leader without exhibiting the right stuff. You also learn the Executive skills needed to get the job done.

I like Allen West because he is unabashedly and unapologetically Conservative. He’s also a fighter. Folks that follow him on Facebook know he has jumped into Congress with both feet, and is working very hard to make things happen. To shake things up. One of the hardest working guys out there. Many people have him as their first choice to be Sarah’s Veep, and Sarah endorsed him in 2010. I only place him second, because of Rick Perry’s record and experience.

* Secretary of State: John Bolton

This man was born to be Secretary of the State. No one understands what is going on around the world better, and no one would powerfully advocate for America stronger. This is the no brainer pick.

* Secretary of Defense: John McCain

I know, I can see the emails coming from my front porch! This is a solid choice though. Let me explain:

For all of the things John has done to anger Conservatives, he’s also been one the ones who has always looked after the military and it’s best interests. He was also one of the only ones who was right on Iraq, and the surge. In fact he was his normal “cordial” self as he screamed from the roof tops that we needed change in our strategery. He was right. This would be a fitting and wonderful way to top of f John McCain’s career in public service.I have no doubt he would serve Sarah and the nation incredibly well.

It would also open up a Senate seat in Conservative Arizona.

* Attorney General: Rudolph Giuliani

You wouldn’t see cases against domestic terror groups, like the New Black Panthers, being thrown out and covered up. Rudy was tough on crime as Mayor of New York. He took over a city that was all but in ruins. Totally out of control. He cleaned it up. He has an understanding of the Rule of Law. He wouldn’t be intimidated by anything or anybody.

Other choices: Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia, Pam Bondi of Florida

Both Cuccinelli and Bondi have been at the forefront of the ObamaCare fight in the courts. They are young, strong, and full of fight.

* Secretary of the Treasury: Steve Forbes

This guy is very astute. Knows how economies work, and how they don’t. Is a solid businessman, and one our best economists. Also is for a flat tax. A very simple, everyone pays the same, uncomplicated tax code. Something that would make businesses thrive, which in turn would make everyone, and everything, thrive, as well.

Other choices: Art Laffer, Thomas Sowell

Both of these men are as qualified as Forbes.

Art Laffer was an economic adviser to Reagan, and was key in creating the longest period of economic growth in our nation’s history.

Thomas Sowell is one of America’s greatest thinkers alive today. You could fill books [and he has] just on his knowledge of economics alone! Dr Sowell must have some sort of role in a Palin administration.

Also, while many would love to abolish the Fed, a sound plan …. if there has to be a Fed …. any three of these gentlemen could be trusted to run it properly.

* Secretary of Homeland Security: Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Yeah, another liberal’s head exploding pick!

In all seriousness though. Joe is one tough guy, and understands what must be done. Homeland Security is first and foremost about defending the homeland. Our biggest threat is unchecked illegal immigration. We are finding radical Islamists and their paraphernalia on our southern borders. No doubt that would be less of an issue with Sheriff Joe on duty

* Energy Secretary: T. Boone Pickens

Hey, Sarah won’t have the time to do the job herself, even though this is one of her areas of great expertise.

Pickens is a oil billionaire, but he is also pretty forward looking. He was one of the first to call for our fleet to start the conversion to clean and green natural gas, and for wind turbines to replace natural gas fired electrical generation plants, where possible. He was also one of the first to see the fallacy in this plan too. I agree with converting our fleet to compressed natural gas [CNG] but as Pickens found out, windmill farms only work with government subsides, and we need fewer of those, not more.

We need someone who understands that we MUST become energy independent. That it is a national security, as well as an economic issue. Someone who understands that fossil fuels are not evil.

Pickens is a sharp guy and a solid thinker who believes in looking for alternative ways to fuel the engine of democracy. But also believes these alternatives must be able to succeed without massive government [tax payer] dollars.

No doubt he would be very much on board with Sarah’s “all of the above” stance as a way of energy independence. Though we must look to alternatives, something private companies can do better than government, we must also look to continued oil and natural gas exploration, as well as coal and most certainly expansion of nuclear energy.

France gets over 70 percent of it’s electricity from nuclear powered plants. FRANCE. Let that roll around in your head for awhile.

Sarah will be choosing advisers as well. No great leader doesn’t also choose great advisers.

Great leaders will choose people that will not only give good advice, but also challenge the Executive from time to time, making them justify what they want to do. Yes men need not apply.

There are any number of people who will be great picks. As me mentioned earlier, Thomas Sowell simply must play a part in a Palin administration. He would make an incredible economic adviser. Liz Cheney is someone else who would be a good choice. She would be a great foreign policy adviser, doing the job Condi Rice did for Bush, before he appointed her Secretary of State. Liz is sharp and very well suited for this sort of position. She’s had several important positions at State, and understands geopolitical affairs well.

Sarah will need a Press Secretary too. We would love to see Tammy Bruce up there every day giving the corrupt media hell! Megyn Kelly would be a fun choice as well.

Anyhow, let me hear from you guys. Who do you think Sarah should choose? Make your case on why so-and-so would be perfect for the job.

Mr. Chairman, delegates and fellow citizens, I will be honored to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you. (Cheers, applause.)

I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America, and I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election against confident opponents at a crucial hour for our country. And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions and met far graver challenges and knows how tough fights are won, the next president of the United States, John S. McCain. (Cheers, applause.)

It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves. With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost. There was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. (Cheers, applause.)

But the pollsters — the pollsters and the pundits, they overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off. They overlooked the caliber of the man himself, the determination and resolve and the sheer guts of Senator John McCain. (Cheers, applause.)

The voters knew better. And maybe that’s because they realize there’s a time for politics and a time for leadership; a time to campaign and a time to put our country first. (Cheers, applause.)

Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by. He’s a man who wore the uniform of his country for 22 years and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who now have brought victory within sight. (Cheers, applause.)

And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Chanting.) USA! USA! USA! USA!

GOV. PALIN: I’m just one of many moms who will say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm’s way. Our son Track is 19, and one week from tomorrow, September 11th, he’ll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country. My nephew Casey (sp) also enlisted and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf. My family is so proud of both of them, and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you.

GOV. PALIN: So Track is the eldest of our five children. In our family, it’s two boys and three girls in between, my strong and kind- hearted daughters, Bristol and Willow and Piper. (Cheers, applause.)

And we were so blessed in April; Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. (Cheers, applause.)

You know, from the inside, no family ever seems typical, and that’s how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges and the same joys, sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a very, very special love. To the families of special needs — (cheers, applause) — to the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years, you’ve sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

And I pledge to you that if we’re elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. (Cheers, applause.)

And Todd is a story all by himself. He’s a lifelong commercial fisherman and a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope, and a proud member of the Untied Steelworkers Union. (Cheers, applause.) And Todd is a world champion snow machine racer. (Cheers, applause.) Throw in his Yupik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package. And we met in high school, and two decades and five children later, he’s still my guy. (Cheers, applause.)

My mom and dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town, and among the many things I owe them is a simple lesson that I’ve learned: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity. And my parents are here tonight. (Cheers, applause.) I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. (Cheers, applause continuing.)

Long ago, a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri, he followed an unlikely path — (cheers) — he followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.

And a writer observed, “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.”

And I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They’re the ones who do some of the hardest work in America, who grow our food and run our factories and fight our wars. They love their country in good times and bad — (cheers, applause) — and they’re always proud of America. (Sustained cheers, applause.)

I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA. (Cheers, applause.)

AUDIENCE: (Chanting.) Hockey moms! Hockey moms! Hockey moms!

GOV. PALIN: (Laughs.) I love those hockey moms. You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick. (Laughter, cheers, applause.)

So I signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education even better. And when I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters and I knew their families, too.

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska — (cheers, applause) — I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. (Cheers, applause.) I guess — (interrupted by chants of “Sarah! Sarah!”) — I guess a small-town mayor if sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. (Cheers, applause.)

I might add — I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they’re listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening. (Cheers, applause.) No, we tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco. (Cheers, applause.)

As I for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. (Cheers, applause.)

Well, I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. (Cheers, applause.) And I’ve learned quickly these last few days that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. (Booing.)

But — (booing continues) — but — (booing, chanting) — now here’s a little news flash — (chanting and shouting) — now here’s a little news flash for those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country. (Cheers, applause, chanting.)

Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reason, and not just to mingle with the right people. Politics isn’t just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.

The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it. (Cheers, applause.)

No one expects us all to agree on everything, but we are expected to govern with integrity and good will and clear convictions and a servant’s heart. And I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.)

This was the spirit that brought me to the governor’s office when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau, when I stood up to the special interests and the lobbyists and the Big Oil companies and the good old boys. Suddenly, I realized that sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That’s why true reform is so hard to achieve. But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up and in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people. (Cheers, applause.)

I came to office promising major ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing, and today that ethics reform is the law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the Governor’s Office that I didn’t believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. (Cheers, applause.) I put it on eBay. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) I love to drive myself to work. And I thought we could muddle through without the governor’s personal chef, although I got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. (Laughter.)

I came to office promising to control spending, by request if possible, but by veto if necessary. (Cheers, applause.) Senator McCain also, he promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest. And as a chief executive, I can assure you it works. (Cheers, applause.)

Our state budget is under control. We have a surplus. And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending, nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes. (Cheers, applause.)

We suspended the state fuel tax and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks” on that bridge to nowhere. (Cheers, applause.) If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves. (Cheers, applause.)

When oil and gas prices went up dramatically and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged: directly to the people of Alaska. (Cheers, applause.)

And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists who kind of liked things the way that they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources. As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people. (Cheers, applause.)

I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence. (Cheers, applause.) That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are open, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.

The stakes for our nation could not be higher. When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we’re forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

(Applause.) And families cannot throw more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil. (Applause.)

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers. (Cheers, applause.)

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies, or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, or that Venezuela might shut off its oil discoveries and its deliveries of that source, Americans — need to produce more of our own oil and gas. (Cheers, applause.) And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska; we’ve got lots of both. (Cheers, applause, chanting.)

(Inaudible.) Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems, as if we didn’t know that already. (Laughter.) But the fact — the fact that drilling, though, won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. (Cheers, applause.)

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants and create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources. (Cheers, applause.)

We need — (cheers, applause) — we need American sources of resources. We we need American energy brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers. (Cheers, applause.)

Now, I’ve noticed a pattern with our opponent, and maybe you have too. We’ve all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers, and there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate. (Cheers, applause.) This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word “victory” — except when he’s talking about his own campaign. (Cheers, applause.)

But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out and those styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot — (laughter, cheers, applause) — when that happens, what exactly is our opponent’s plan?

What does he actually seek to accomplish after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? (Laughter, applause.) The answer — the answer is to make government bigger and take more of your money and give you more orders from Washington and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. (Boos.)

America needs more energy. Our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight and he wants to forfeit. (Boos.) Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay. He wants to meet them without preconditions. (Boos.) Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights. (Boos, cheers, applause.)

Government is too big. He wants to grow it.

Congress spends too much money. He promises more. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them.

His tax increase are the fine print in his economic plan. And let me be specific. The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes and raise payroll taxes and raise investment income taxes — (boos) — and raise the death tax — (boos) — and raise business taxes — (boos) — and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. (Boos.)

My sister Heather and her husband, they just built a service station that’s now open for business. Like millions of others who run small businesses, how are they — (applause) — how are they going to be better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you are trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or in Ohio — (cheers) — or you’re trying — you’re trying to create jobs from clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia. (Cheers, applause.) Or you’re trying to keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota. (Cheers, applause.) How are you — how are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy?

Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. (Cheers, applause.)

They are the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners or on self-designed presidential seals.

AUDIENCE: Ooh! (Applause.)

GOV. PALIN: Among politicians, there is the idealism of high- flown speechmaking in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things, and then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. (Cheers, applause.) They’re the ones who are good for more than talk, the ones that we’ve always been able to count on to serve and to defend America.

Senator McCain’s record of actual achievements and reform helps explain why so many special interests and lobbyists and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency from the primary election of 2000 to this very day. Our nominee doesn’t run with the Washington herd. He’s a man who is there to serve his country, and not just his party; a leader who’s not looking for a fight, but sure isn’t afraid of one either. (Cheers, applause.)

Harry Reid, the majority of the current do-nothing Senate — (boos) — he not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.

He said, quote, “I can’t stand John McCain.” (Laughter.) Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man. (Cheers, applause.)

Clearly, what the majority leader was driving at is that he can’t stand up to John McCain — (laughter, cheers) — and that is only — that’s only one more reason to take the maverick out of the Senate, put him in the White House. (Cheers, applause.)

My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) This world of threats and dangers, it’s not just a community and it doesn’t just need an organizer. (Laughter.)

And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they’re always, quote, “fighting for you,” let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. (Sustained cheers, applause.) There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you in places where winning means survival and defeat means death, and that man is John McCain. (Cheers, applause.)

You know, in our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world — the nightmare world in which this man and others equally brave served and suffered for their country. And it’s a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office. (Cheers, applause.)

But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made. It’s a journey of an upright and honorable man, the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this great country, only he was among those who came home. To the most powerful office on Earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless, the wisdom that comes even to the captives by the grace of God — (cheers, applause) — the special confidence of those who have seen evil and have seen how evil is overcome. (Cheers, applause.) A fellow — a fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio — (extended cheers and applause) — Tom Moe recalls looking through a pin hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway by the guards day after day.

And the story is told, when McCain shuffled back from the torturous interrogation, he would turn toward Moe’s door and he’d flash a grin and thumbs-up, as if to say, “We’re going to pull through this.”

My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through the next four years. (Cheers, applause.)

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. But for a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds. (Cheers, applause.) If character is the measure in this election, and hope the theme, and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.)

Thank you, and God bless America. Thank you. (Cheers, applause.)

END.

Transcripts of Governor Palin’s speech can also be found here and here.

The Beltway elite,the liberal websites and the media are starting to play the “let’s pick the Republican candidate for 2012.” One sagely opined They need another Bob Dole Type”. Not a Palin type of course.

And if they have their way the same result will take place as it did in 2008. There will be sage advice, plenty of praise for the centerist “moderate” middle of the road safe candidate of their choice instead of a true conservative like, well Sarah Palin.

And then, once the safe pair of hands is selected,in this scenario, they will turn on whomever they have annointed like a pack of dogs, exactly as they did with McCain. Or,their choice will be so bland that they will totally ignore him and make the campaign a boring fait acommpli for their real object of worship.

In their seemingly endless speculation-now up to 26 proposed candidates-they had not, till the end of 2010, settled on the one they want to be the “Anti-Palin”. However since January the picture has changed-even Blind Bob can see in which direction the media pack in heading.

CNN (Shannon Travis)January 14th: “Jeb Bush blasts heated political tone in U.S.” Jeb Bush believes that the tone of political debate in America has gotten too hot so he’s urging a “restoration of civility across the board.”

The younger brother of former President George W. Bush, who’s also mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, made the comments on Friday at the Hispanic Leadership Network Conference”

Yahoo News (Ron Hart) January 16th; Headlines “Jeb Bush Will Not Run for President in 2012; What About 2016?” But goes on to say “Bush comes from a long line of savvy politicians.

Washington Post (Ezra Klein) January 17th; “In praise of Jeb Bush”where Klein defends Bush against charges in The New Republic that Bush is somehow anti-Hispanic.

NRO National Review Online Kathryn Jean Lopez) February 7th 2011 “Bush Is Not a Four-Letter Word Don’t hate him because he has experience.” After presenting all Bush’s putstanding qualities, here is the money quote “But the truth of the matter is, in conversations with folks from Washington and grassroots activists, his name keeps coming up.”. Actually,just “The folks from Washington” would have been enough to show where the land lies.

No thanks,the establishment,and especially the left,can run their own candidate in their fantasy world-this is not 2008 and the Palin forces, should she choose to run, are not going to have any Beltway elite

shoved down their throats. And,if the forces of power manage to pull off what they clearly are signalling they want, then the stay at home conservative vote in 2012 will make 2008 look paltry in comparison.

Palin the doughty fighter who stands up to the “irrelevant media” is the people’s choice not the Washngton insiders.She doesn’t need to worry about the pack turning on her,they have turned on her for over two years and she doesn’t give a damn. It is her or any empty ballot booth.

While there will never be another Ronald Reagan – just like there will never be another Abraham Lincoln – there will also never be another Sarah Palin. While we have had 44 presidents, it is the rare great one which comes along every couple of generations or so that stands out. You can probably name only four or five great presidents off the top of your head. When we say Sarah Palin is the next Reagan, we say it meaning she’s the next great one.

Governor Palin went out of the way in her [Young America’s Foundation Reagan 100] speech to not lay claim to the mantle of Ronald Reagan. “Many people today are looking for the next Reagan. But he was one of a kind, and we won’t see his like again,” she said later in her speech, but it’s his principles and values to which we must lay claim.

Her devotion to Reagan’s fundamental philosophy is what makes Sarah Palin our next great one. She will look differently than he did. She will speak differently than he did. But she has emerged from all the leaders we have had since Reagan as the rare embodiment of not only his philosophy and character, but of his courage and tenacity to fight for that philosophy. “She may just become to her era what Reagan was to his,” Tony Lee writes at Human Events.

This is not to say that others are not devoted to Ronald Reagan. Many conservatives consider themselves Reagan conservatives and rightfully so. Conservatism (and its popularity) owes much to Reagan who brought it to the masses in a way that had never been done before. Sarah Palin and other conservatives of our times are products of that.

While we understand and respect others’ devotion to Reaganism, we believe that Sarah Palin is the full package. She not only brings his philosophy and values to the forefront. She lives them. She is charismatic in that she is one of the few who can do to a room what Reagan did. Watching her deliver the vice presidential nomination acceptance speech in 2008 was like watching Reagan. It was electrifying.

No one is ever someone else. But if there was ever someone who best fills that void created by the passing of the great Ronald Reagan, it’s Sarah Palin.

The historical parallels are all there. We have a president who’s direction and execution of policy is out of touch with the country, just like the late 1970’s when Jimmy Carter was president. We have a so-called “polarizing” figure that provides a stark contrast to the unpopular liberal policies of a sitting president. We have an electorate uncertain about Palin much the way they were uncertain about Reagan when he was the shadow opposition.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on Fox Business with Eric Bolling on Monday and weighed in on the economic recovery process, criticizing the federal government for “screwing it up.”

“Governors are going to tackle this problem and not wait for the feds to try and fix anything,” she said. “Part of the reaction you are seeing with the governors having to cut the budget has to do with the fed screwing things up.”

When asked what governors need to do to get the economy back on the right track Palin replied, “Governors are having to re-manage the public expectation. They have to, not only freeze spending at historically high levels, but actually cut and be very realistic with constituents and say this [the stimulus] was never free money to start with. A lot of us conservative governors vetoed those funds. We were overridden by even republican-led legislatures to accept the funds anyway and now look where we are two years down the road.”

Palin stressed that public pension reform is absolutely needed and cited her father, a retired teacher, as a personal example.

“A pension is a promise. You can’t take that away from people who have already paid into the system but you gotta stop the bleeding right now and change the system for the new,” Palin said.

Bolling replayed Fox’s Bill O’Reilly’s interview Sunday with Barack Obama in which Obama states that he hasn’t moved toward the center in order to raise his approval ratings as he launched his re-election bid and that he’s still the same guy.

Palin cited it as a lost opportunity.

“It is a little strange he doesn’t understand the need to move from the far left, economically speaking, to the center, where the American public expects him to be in order to get the economy moving again,” Palin said. “He could pretend he’s moving to the center, but has no desire to. He just said that to Bill O’Reilly. It’s not good for anybody in our country to hear our President obstinately denying the need to move to the center away from his far left policies that are going to lead to some European-style socialist agenda that is going to destroy the economy. It’s a shame; it’s a lost opportunity. He needs to go to the center and do what works and that is get back to free market, economic principles.”

In an exclusive interview released Saturday with The Brody File on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Sarah Palin addressed the rumors surrounding her involvement with the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States.

Speculation has swirled regarding the fact that Palin has never attended a CPAC conference and for the fourth year in a row, Palin has declined an invitation to address the conference.

In the past, Sarah Palin’s schedule as governor in Alaska kept her from making an appearance. However, last year, rumors of disapproval over David Keene’s stewardship swirled, even though on the record, Palin stated that she missed the conference over scheduling issues.

This year, Palin’s PAC plans to participate at CPAC, but Palin once again will not be able to attend due to scheduling issues.

“February is our busiest winter month and with all the prior obligations and outside travel already scheduled for the month I had to forgo some of the opportunities in the Lower 48,” said Palin in an email to the Fix Thursday explaining her decision.

Palin confirmed that in her interview with David Brody Friday evening in Santa Barbara, California after giving the keynote speech at the Reagan 100 Celebration Opening Banquet sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation.

Palin said, “Well, I’ve never attended a CPAC conference ever so I was a little taken aback this go around when I couldn’t make it to this one either and then there was a speculation well I either agree or disagree with some of the groups or issues that CPAC is discussing. It really is a matter of time for me”

Palin is addressing the fact that some conservatives are skipping out over the presence of GOProud, an organization that stands for conservative values and gay rights

Palin added, “…David, perhaps what it is that you’re suggesting in the question is should the GOP, should conservatives not reach out to others, not participate in events or forums that perhaps arising within those forums are issues that maybe we don’t personally agree with? And I say no. It’s like you being on a panel shoot, with a bunch of the liberal folks whom you have been on and you provide good information and balance, and you allow for healthy debate, which is needed in order for people to gather information and make up their own minds about issues. I look at participation in an event like CPAC or any other event along kind of in that same vein as the more information that people have the better.”